


Family Bonds

by MelodyAZ



Category: Mass Effect: Andromeda
Genre: Action & Romance, Drama & Romance, Eventual Happy Ending, F/M, Family Drama, Friendship, Gen, M/M, Sibling conflict, Siblings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-08
Updated: 2019-05-08
Packaged: 2020-02-28 09:46:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,741
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18753919
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MelodyAZ/pseuds/MelodyAZ
Summary: Nearly four years after defeating the Kett, tragedy strikes Scott and Gil as they are preparing to wed and move their family to a homestead on Eos.Dealing with the loss makes Scott realize how much he misses his sister and prompts him to embark on a quest to discover why she distanced herselffrom him and during his journey secrets are discovered, revelations are made, friendships are renewed as he sets out to make his family complete again.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [This is dedicated to all the people who enjoyed Mass Effect Andromeda](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=This+is+dedicated+to+all+the+people+who+enjoyed+Mass+Effect+Andromeda).



Scott smiled as he read the data pad as he poured himself a cup of coffee. 

"Decided to let you sleep in so I took the kids to daycare. I'm stopping by engineering to cheer up some friends over this micro managing bullshit and then I'm heading to the Operations to check the status of Jill's shuttle. I figure if we meet her with the kids after the shuttle docks she can't yell at us for insisting they stay behind. I'm still surprised she hasn't messaged us every day. Will be back in a couple of hours. Love you." 

"Scott sighed and set the datapad down, Jill traveled a lot for her work and many times took the kids with her but they finally had put their foot down and insisted she leave the kids with them as they both thought it was too dangerous for her to take them to the small colony that was established in Kadara. She was furious but relented and had left them one carefully worded messages with an attached list of instructions. Despite their occasional difference, he had come to consider Jill to be big sister. They even agreed to live on the same homestead in Eos, just in separate residences on the property. They were about to start on a new phase of their life where they would be growing a citrus orchard. The Tempest was going to be docked at Prodomos where Gil would be overseeing the upgrades and he also accepted a position where he would be teaching engineering techniques to a small group who wanted to _"learn from the Tempest's Engineer"._  
The climate at EOS was similar to the Southwest in America and they decided to grow citrus trees because they thought it would be a good crop for trade. The three of them agreed they were not ready to settle on Meridian and agreed on Eos because of the climate, for being relatively close to the Nexus and their friends. They also wanted their children to grow up under a real sun. As beautiful as Meridian was, there were so many mysteries about it that have yet to be solved.  
"Sam is there any status on Jill's shuttle?" Scott asked as he put on a robe.  
"No Scott, there have been severe solar storms affecting the area. I can't access the records from the port or colony but I will continue to monitor."  
"Thank Sam. By the way when my sister comes to have her implant checked, is it by shuttle or an Angaran transport."  
"Sara always travels by Angaran ships since Tann instituted the change, Scott."  
"Its good to know my sister has common sense." 

Nearly a year after the Kett's defeat, Sara took a position excavating artifacts in Havarl. She had ran into the archeologist she protected as a peacekeeper. It turned out there were very few archeologists that made the trip to Andromeda and during her tenure as a Peacekeeper she had learned to escavate and clean relics as well as pack them for transport. Dr Reyaldi offered her the position in Havarl where she would be working with Angaran historians with the agreement that Remnant artifacts and technology would be split divided between Angarans and the Milky Way researchers. 

What angered him was the way Sara left. She packed up her things and left a note. He then discovered Cora had encouraged her to go which made the situation worse. The betrayal he felt cut through him and he angrily told Cora to resign her position on the Tempest and that she since she cared so much that she could be responsible for Sara's well being. And Cora And from what little he heard from Sam, she made sure Sara went to the Nexus for her check ups for her implant. The damage the archon had inflicted on Sara had caused her to collapse several times and once she died. Sam suggested the same technique that was used in saving his life so Scott agreed.  
The _jump start_ effectively saved her life and also made her into another another Pathfinder. Her bionic abilities also grew from the process making her very formidable that Cora helped her to train. Sara made it clear she never wanted to be another Pathfinder. When she left he had left her some angry e-mails which she never responded to. From the reports, he learned she was doing excellent job and was well regarded by the scientists and the Angarans. He had to stifle is resentment when Moshae Sjefa sang praises about her. 

__

__

He had only seen her one other time when their mother was awakened from Cryo. They agreed to not let their mother know about the friction between them. Lexie, Sam, and several other researchers discovered her disease had slowed due to the cold and had developed some treatments that could save her. The only catch is she would have to live on Voeld which was considered the coldest planet despite the vault having raised the temperatures. She was initally angry at finding out what his father had done and made Scott and Sara promise that if these treatments failed, that she would be allowed to die. Ellen settled down at one of the research settlements and they kept in touch by e-mail and the occasional visit. She loved her grandchildren though and Scott kept his e-mails about them. 

"Scott, I'm hearing reports about an Angara ship coming in with a shuttle tethered to it. They didn't say the number but it will be docking at Bay 19." 

"Shit," Scott dropped the mug and hurried out of the apartment. 

Ignoring the stares, Ryder made it to the docking bay and found Kesh watching the ship as it docked. 

Sam what was number on Jill's shuttle?" 

"416-A" 

"No," Scott stumbled back when seeing the numbers on the shuttle. 

"The Angara who found the ship said they found it drifting toward the scourge," Kesh said. 

There are no life signs Scott," Sam said gently. 

Gil and Jill were more like siblings than friends. They had known each other since they were kids after he was placed in the same group home after his mom died. He would not have gone to Andromeda without her. She was the mother to their kids and now she was gone.  
"No." 

Scott turned just in time to see Gil drop the data pad that was in his hand. 

__

__

**To be Continued**


	2. Chapter 2: Grief, Anger, Poker and hidden secrets revealed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a confrontation with Tann, Gil copes with his grief by playing poker at the Vortex Lounge while Scott gets help from his friends, has a talk with his mother before listening to message Jill left for him.

Scott put his arm around Gil as Lexie covered Jill's body then turned to look at them. "I want you to know there was no pain. Its evident she and the crew realized that the life support system would fail before any chance of a rescue so they found the sedatives in the medkit. After recording their goodbye messages, they gave themselves a shot and simply fell asleep before life support gave out. I am so sorry."  
"Thank you Lexie," Scott looked at Gil. He was looking down at the gurney before suddenly looking upward at Kesh and the others inspecting the ship.  
"Why did this happen?"  
They watched as Kesh conferred with the others before walking towards them. "We'll be examining things more thoroughly but from what we can tell the calibration system for the booster failed and according to the records, they left before the solar storms became severe and didn't know before they decided to use it when they were nearly out of the system. Then they were hit by a massive solar wave and started to lose all the systems.  
"When was the shuttle schedule for a full inspection?" Gil demanded.  
"It was scheduled for a full inspection after this last trip," Kesh said  
"Shit," Scott seethed. 

Six months earlier Tann had issued a change which how ships and shuttles coming and going would be inspected. Deciding to improve efficiency he mandated that full inspections would be done after six trips. Before that, ships would undergo a quick diagnostic scan before taking off. Gil and Kallo and the engineers and pilots argued that it would not be be enough. The Asari and Turian pathfinder agreed but the Salarian pathfinder agreed with Trann along with several higher ups. Moshae Sjefa remained neutral as these rules did not affect Andromeda ships and Krogans focused on the ships.  
"That fucking bureaucratic bastard!" Gil raged.  
"Scott," Sam warned. "Tann is making his way down here."  
"You did this," Gil lunged toward Tann. "You and your fucking bullshit micro managing. My kids lost their mother because of _you._ "  
"Ryder..." Trann choked as Scott and Lexie pulled him away.  
"Keep Engineer Brodie at bay," Tann brushed himself off. "While I am sorry for your loss, I am sure a full investigation will determine..."  
"Oh its going to be determined," Kesh folded her arms. "Now how about suspending all take offs and let each ship get inspected properly because look around you, Tann. This is not going to be ignored.  
"You better believe its _not_ going to be ignored." Gil grabbed Tann.  
"Gil," Scott said gently. "He's _not_ worth it."  
"Let him go Gil," Lexie said in a soothing tone. "You need to think about your kids."  
Gil released Tann and shoved him away then stormed off.  
"Gil," Scott called out.  
"Let him go Scott," Lexie said. "He needs time to process this."  
"Are you going to put let the ships be inspected?" Scott looked at Tann.  
"Yes of course," Tann nodded. "I am sorry for your loss. I'm going to ignore this incident but for the time being I will be keeping my office locked. And Ryder, put some clothes on"

  
"Go fuck off and find something else to micromanage," Scott waved him off.

"I'll have her body put in the morgue until you decided what to do, " Lexie touched his shoulder. "The child care center is open twenty fours. Michael and Meri Ellen will be taken care of." 

"Here is data pad," Kesh said as she handed it to him. "I'm going to send a message to Drack. He'll want to know."  
"Thank you," Scott switched the data pad and looked it briefly to see Jill had left some recorded messages to various people but he was not ready to deal with it yet. "Sam, where is Gil." 

"Gil is at the Vortex bar Scott, he just started a poker game."  
"Sam just told me Gil is at the Vortex playing Poker," Scott looked at Lexie. 

"Poker is a coping mechanism for him," Lexie explained. "Just let him be for now

"Kesh can you get the list of ship arrivals and departures from Kadara? " Scott glanced at her. "I need to know the time the shuttle departed and when the solar storms started."  
"Already on it," Kesh said as she typed something into her data pad. "I sent a message to Vetra too since she lives at the settlement." 

"Thanks ," Scott sighed. "I'm going to get dressed and visit the kids." 

"What about your mother and sister?" Lexie asked.  
  
"I'm sure Sam has already sent a message to mom. As for my sister? I honestly don't expect to hear from her."

"Scott, I know your sister loves you," Lexie rubbed his arm. "I have no doubt she will make her way here."  
"If Sara loved me she would have never abandoned me to live in some trailer in the middle of Havarl to excavate artifacts," Scott folded his arms. "She barely knows the kids to begin with so it doesn't matter." 

"Scott I know deep down you know that's not true," Lexie said as she hugged him. "Go back to your place, get dressed and listen those messages before seeing the kids. If I am not at my office, I'll be at my apartment. Do not hesitate to call me. I'll see you later." 

Security was dispersing the crowd that formed as Scott made his way back to the apartment where he finally got dressed and sat down. He picked up the data pad and saw his name was first on the list. Taking a deep breath he closed his eyes and played the message.

_"Scott. I'm sending you this because you keep Gil grounded. I knew from the moment I met you that you two were perfect for each other and he's going to need you _more_ than ever. I fucked up Scott. Vetra warned me not to go but I didn't listen. I missed my kids and now....I am never going to see them again..... _

He was shocked to hear Jill's voice breaking. For as long as he knew, the only time he saw any sort of tears was after giving birth to Michael and Meri Ellen. Most of the time she was no nonsense, wanted things a certain way, and had a biting sense of humor. 

_"I have no doubt Gil is playing poker now. Its how he deals with things. But you need to **remind** him he has kids to think about. I know its not going to be easy for him. I've essentially been his big sister since he was eleven. I've always been there for him. Anyway he's a father now as are you. And I know I probably should have said it more. You are both good fathers. I have faith in you both but there's one thing I want Scott....I want Mikey and Meri to have a mother figure in their life. The two of you **can't** do it all. You **need** to reconnect with your sister. . I got to know her when you weren't around and she is amazing with them. I am sorry I never told you but what we did was for the good of our family. Everything is on my computer for you to understand. I left Sara a message as well as one for Gil and there are two the kids for when they are older. I love you Scott. I loved....having you as a brother." _

Scott set data pad down and stood up. "Sam, did Sara visit the kids when she made trips to the Nexus?"  
"The answers you seek are on Jill's computer, Scott." 

"I can't think about that right now. Jill said she was warned by Vetra _not_ to leave. I need to talk to Vetra but knowing Jill the way I did, not listening is something she has done. And by leaving Kadara despite the warnings, it means she is at fault just as much as Tann's policy."

Scott sat on the floor of the child care center holding Meri Ellen as he helped build a tower with Michael. Meri Ellen was a month way from being a year old. He had made _the donation_ this time. He loved Michael and didn't care who donated but Jill insisted he do it. Gil finally got his wish and one his children was partly named after Meridian and he and Jill both suggested Ellen for the middle name

"Daddy, where is Papa?" Michael tugged at his shirt.  
"He is.... busy right now but he loves you very much and we will all be together soon," Scott got up and carried Meri back to the crib, kissing her before he set down. 

"Mikey," Scott sat down beside him. "Does Aunt Sara visit you when I am away?"  
"I love Aunt Sara! " Michael clapped his hands. "She plays with me and Meri. I see her on Momma's puter too. We sing songs and she has a picture of me and Meri." 

"She does?" Scott smiled.  
"Mhmm," Michael yawned. "We draw pictures too."  
"I'm happy you and Meri know her," Scott picked him up. "But its time for a nap for you Buddy." 

He kissed Michael on his cheek and gently placed the covers over him before leaving the room to go to Jill's apartment.

Sitting down, he turned on Jill's computer. He easily deducted her password being a combination of the kid's birthdays. His heart beat against his chest as he found Sara's name listed many times.   
"Sara -kids. Sara -Michael. Sara vid-call" Sara- Meri Ellen", he read. 

His eyes widened and stifled a gasp as he selected one with Michael watched the footage of him running toward Sara as she walked in the apartment. "Mikey!" She knelt down and held out her arms to hug him. He could literally feel the love and joy she emanated and began to look through more of what Jill archived. 

****

**To Be Continued**


End file.
